Pokémon: Online
by Heroi Oscura
Summary: In the Year 2028, humanity has managed to prefect virtual reality and has made a fully virtual Pokémon world for people to play in. However after launch, players are unable to log out and if they lose a Pokémon battle...they die.
1. Chapter 1

**I do not own Pokémon or Sword Art Online**

**Xxx**

Chapter 1: Beginnings

_3:56_

A young brown-haired boy was staring intently at his computer screen. He was fingering at a small video game case that had the words "Pokémon: Online," along with a box art of the Gen I-VI starters and a smiling Pokémon Trainer.

"Hey, Fire!" a young girl's voice could be heard from outside of his room. "I'm going to the store! You want something?"

The boy didn't even acknowledge that he had heard her and continued staring at the screen.

Something of a sigh could be heard as the front door immediately slammed shut. Outside, one could hear the young girl muttering death threats and curse words.

_3:57_

Right after the door had slammed shut; the boy stood up and unplugged his headphones from his computer. He ran over to his closet, opened it and looked up, staring at a large grey headset, with words running along the side saying "Nintendo VR Helmet 2.0."

Meanwhile, on the computer screen, a reporter continued her broadcast.

_3:58_

"_As of now approximately 5000 people, have bought Pokémon: Online with nearly 4000 having received their copy by preordering the game. It has been nearly fifteen years, since the commercially successful Pokémon X and Y, so it comes as no surprise that this game is flying off the selves by eager fans, both old and new. The creator of Pokémon: Online, Arisato Tela, obviously knew of the series fame and decided to implement it into the VR Helmet 2.0. As everyone knows, Pokémon: Online is the first game to be on this system, with the VR Helmet 2.0 made only to compliment it. However, is Pokémon just an old fad? Many-"_

The boy closed the program at that very moment, gritting his teeth in unknown anger. He had grabbed the VR Helmet and, using an USB cord, connected it to the computer. The boy slid the disc into the computer, and then placed the VR Helmet on his head.

"Power on."

Immediately, the screen flashed and ran the mandatory checks. After the checks, the normal blue screen appeared, right before the boy's eyes, with the words "Pokémon: Online."

"Game Start!"

Xxx

"Welcome to the wonderful world of Pokémon!"

Professor Oak appeared in front of him, looking just like he did in the old anime. Even though he was smiling, Fire knew better. This Professor Oak was just an NPC, with no feelings.

"My name is **Oak**! People affectionately refer to me as the **Pokémon Professor**. This world," Oak threw out a Pokéballs and it opened up with a burst of white light coming out. The white energy then materialized into a Rattata near Oak's feet." is inhabited far and wide by creatures called Pokémon! For some people, Pokémon are pets. Others use them for battling. As for myself… I study Pokémon as a profession. But first, tell me a little about yourself."

A screen appeared in front of Fire that asked for gender and other characteristics. _A character creation screen_, he mused. He sighed and swiped his hand to the right, to the avatar he had used in the beta. Fire preferred it because it looked similar to him, but not enough that anyone would make the connection.

After he had selected his old avatar, Professor Oak, began to speak again. "Good, now please choose your starter." Six tables materialized in front of Oak, each one containing three Pokéballs. "Each of these tables, have the starters you would pick in each respective region, which are-"

"The Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, Sinnoh, Unova, and Kalos regions," finished Fire.

"The Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, Sinnoh, Unova, and Kalos regions,' continued Oak. Fire rolled his eyes. Apparently it was a recorded conversation, meant for the player to be kept silent. He walked over to the first table and grabbed the third Pokéball on it.

""Ah! Charmander is your choice. You should raise it patiently. So, do you want the Fire Pokémon Charmander?" asked the Professor.

Fire nodded, already bored of the conversation.

"What region would you like to start out in?" asked Oak.

"The one that makes the most sense," replied Fire. "Kanto."

Professor Oak spread his arms open. "Your own very Pokémon legend is about to unfold!" he shouted. "A world of dreams and adventures with Pokémon awaits! Let's go!"

Fire Red shut his eyes as a bright white light engulfed him.

Xxx

When Fire opened his eyes, he was standing in the middle of Pallet Town. A few other players were milling around, waiting for their friend to show up. Others were staring at the buildings in wonder or were already heading into Route 1.

Fire smiled to himself and clenched his fist. He stared at the virtual sun with a burning passion.

"Finally, I'm back in this world."

**Xxx**

**Well here is my new idea. I got this while watching Pokémon Origins first scene with Professor Oak. Constructive Criticism is appreciated, however don't flame me **_**too**_** much. If I need a beta-reader, and you think you can do I fine job at it, just ask.**

**This will feature the Kalos Region. However, its features and plot will probably appear later in the story, so I don't have too many spoilers. Also, don't expect this to be exactly like Sword Art Online, just with Pokémon. I have a plotline already planned for this and it has no correlation to SAO, aside from a few minor chapters.**

**Ciao!**


	2. Owning Onix

**Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon or Sword Art Online**

**Bold: What's appearing above the trainers when they begin a battle. Ex. Countdown whose the battle between etc.**

* * *

Chapter 2: Owning Onix

Pewter City Gym

Fire walked right by the trainer, and glanced back at him. The trainer gave no indication that he had heard Fire and continued staring straight ahead. _It's too easy to avoid the gym trainers_, he thought. _Apparently the developers didn't bother to fix the problem. _He smirked.

Fire Red kept walking until he reached a Pokémon battlefield not unlike the ones that had been seen in the old anime. Standing in the square meant for the player, he stared across the field to see the Brock had already materialized.

"Welcome, Trainer!" Brock spread his arm open in greeting. "I'm Brock! I'm Pewter's Gym Leader! I believe in rock hard defense and determination! That's why my Pokémon are all the Rock-type! Do you still want to challenge me?"

"Yeah," muttered Fire already bored of the cut and paste dialogue from Generation I. _At least they didn't reintroduce Running Shoes,_ he mused.

"First would you mind telling me how many badges you have earned and what regions you have explored?" Brock asked.

"I don't have any badges and as of now, I've only been to Kanto," Fire clearly stated.

"Fine then! Show me your best!" Brock shouted to him. Two Pokéballs materialized in his hands. "I'll be using this two to battle you!"

**Processing request…**

**Request being processed. Please wait a moment…**

**Request processed. Battle: Brock the Pewter City Gym Leader vs. Fire Red**

**3…**

**2…**

**1…**

**Begin!**

"Show me your best! Geodude!" yelled Brock as he threw out a Pokéball. In a flash of light the Rock Pokémon appeared on the battlefield and flexed its muscles menacingly.

"Let's go! Nidoran!" Fire threw his Pokéball out on the field. A small, quadruped rodent-like Pokémon stood on the battlefield, facing the Geodude. It was pinkish purple with darker spots, and has large, spiny ears, oversized front teeth, and red eyes. There was also a long, pointed horn on its forehead.

"Nido!" it said, staring down the Geodude with an intense glare.

"Nidoran!" commanded Fire. "Use Focus Energy!" A light blue aura surrounded Nidoran as it prepared to attack.

"Geodude," Brock said calmly. "Defense Curl." Geodude curled itself into a ball using its arms. A small icon with a blue uppercase "D" and an arrow pointing up appeared underneath its HP Gauge.

Fire smirked. "Not gonna work! Nidoran use Double Kick!" Nidoran sprang forward with both of its feet glowing white. It slammed into Geodude kicking at its face with one leg and kicking it again with the other leg. After that hit, Geodude collapsed as its HP hit zero almost immediately.

Brock gritted his teeth. "Geodude, return," he said as he held out a Pokéball. "Go, Onix!" Brock threw out another Pokémon, this time his signature Onix. "Use Harden!" Onix's body glowed white, as the icon for a Defense increase appeared underneath his HP gauge.

"Double Kick!" shouted Fire once again. Nidoran used the move again on Onix, but this time its HP only came down to a low yellow.

"Onix, Rock Tomb!" Onix jumped in the air and came crashing down. When he hit the floor, giant rocks protruded from the ground and surrounded Nidoran. A few seconds later, the rocks disappeared reveal Nidoran, who's HP had gone into the yellows along with a reduced Speed icon underneath its gauge.

"Poison Sting!" Nidoran fired out small purple colored needles at Onix, causing only little damage. Luckily for Fire, the Poison icon appeared underneath's its gauge, indicating that Onix was now poisoned.

"Tackle!" Onix rammed itself into Nidoran, sending it flying towards Fire. Before it reached him however, Nidoran hit some sort of invisible barrier in front of him and slumped on the ground as the last of its HP dwindled away.

"Nidoran, return!" Fire held out its Pokéball as a thin red light emitted from it and withdrew Nidoran from the battlefield. He then stared at Onix as its HP went down due to poison. _Rock Tomb would probably destroy my Charmander in one hit_, thought Fire as he stared at Onix. _I have to make him miss. _

"Go, Charmander!" Fire threw out his second Pokéball. In a bright flash of light, the small fire lizard Pokémon appeared. "Use Smokescreen!" he commanded. Charmander opened its mouth and released a small cloud of smoke onto the battlefield.

"Onix, use Rock Tomb." Onix jumped up once again and when it came down, a sound of rock crashing together was heard through the smoke.

Fire smirked. "You missed," he said as the smoke dissipated with Charmander standing right in front of the mountain of rocks.

Brock watched with an expressionless face as the last of Onix's HP went away from poison.

**Winner: Fire Red**

After Brock had returned Onix, he walked towards Fire. "I took you for granted, and so I lost. As proof of your victory, I confer on you this...the official Pokémon League Boulder Badge," he said as he handed Fire the Boulder Badge. "Take this with you," he handed Fire a small CD. "A TM, Technical Machine, contains a technique for Pokémon. Using a TM teaches the move it contains to a Pokémon. TM39 contains Rock Tomb. It hurls boulders at the foe and lowers its speed."

Fire watched as the TM disappeared from his hands. He turned around, knowing that the TM was now in his bag menu available anytime he wanted to use it.

"That was… awesome!" a voice shouted at him. Fire looked up to a young man with a billiard cue strapped to his backpack and a black and yellow cap put on backwards on his head. A small amount of black hair jutted under the cap. "You have to show me how you did that!"

Fire let out a sigh.

Xxx

"Strategy," Fire said to Ethan. They were both on a hill that overlooked Pewter City. Several Nidorans and Pidgeys were running around, ignoring the two.

"Huh," Ethan Gold looked up. "What do you mean?"

"Even if you are at a disadvantage, strategy will help you win," Fire continued wisely.

Ethan snorted. "What are you a monk?"

Fire rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "We could always battle," he said. "That's usually the best way to teach someone."

"I'd rather not black out and wake up in a Pokémon Center."

"We could always do a Practice Battle," Fire swiped his finger downward, as a small white menu appeared in front of him.

Ethan raised an eyebrow. "Practice battle?" he asked.

"A Practice Battles are battles held for practice," explained Fire. "No matter what, if any Pokémon's HP reaches the red zone the battle immediately stops. Even if it's a one-hit KO move, the HP stops decreasing when it reaches the zone. The Pokémon that reaches that zone first immediately loses."

Ethan jumped up. "Sure, I'm game," he said as a small screen appeared in front of him, requesting for a Practice Battle. He clicked the small green check on the bottom.

**Processing request…**

**Request being processed. Please wait a moment…**

**Request processed. Practice Battle: Ethan Gold vs. Fire Red**

**3…**

**2…**

**1…**

**Begin!**

"I choose you, Cyndaquil!" yelled Ethan as he threw out his Pokémon. A Cyndaquil appeared in front of him, ready for battle.

Fire frowned. "A Johto starter," he muttered to himself. "Players usually pick a different region…"

"Hey, let's hurry this up!" Ethan shouted at him. "I want to see how strong you are."

Fire smirked. "Right," he said. "Let's go, Charmander!" He threw the Pokéball and Charmander materialized in front of him, glaring Cyndaquil down.

They both spoke in union. "ATTACK!"

Xxx

Ethan flopped to the ground with a groan. "I can't believe I lost," he moaned.

Fire shrugged. "I had a Charmander and a Nidoran," he explained. "All you had was a Cyndaquil and Kakuna."

"I guess you're right," Ethan murmured. He looked up at Fire. "Are you one of those beta-testers?"

Fire blinked. "Wha-What?!" he stammered.

"You know a beta-tester. The people who played this-"

Fire cut him off. "I know what you mean. I was just… surprised." He let out a sigh. "Yeah, I am."

Ethan stared at him for a moment, before snapping his fingers. "So that's why you know a lot about this," he said. "Can you teach me a few things?"

Fire just looked at him, surprised at how nonchalant he was. "Like what?"

"As much as you know, I guess."

"Well," started Fire. "Gym Leaders are always a good start."

Ethan nodded. "Sure."

"When you first talk to a Gym Leader, they'll ask how many gym badges you've won and what region you've been to. Because Brock was the first Gym Leader I faced, he used what he usually uses in Red or Green. However, if I had gone to Johto and beat all eight gyms there, then he would've used different Pokémon that would be stronger. It's also possible that he would use some Pokémon from other regions."

"How do you get between regions?" Ethan asked.

"With the HM Fly," replied Fire. "You get that HM in nearly every region, so it isn't _too_ hard to get."

Ethan nodded to show that he understood. "Do you know what happens at the end?"

Fire stared at him. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, when does the game end? Every game has an ending?"

Fire chuckled. "Sorry, but this is a Pokémon game. Even if you beat all the Elite Four, you can still do a lot of stuff. Side missions, completing the Pokédex, or even trying to battle the other players."

Ethan stood up and stretched. "If that's the case," he said. "Then it looks like I have all the time in the world. I have a giant mushroom pizza I just ordered and I want to have before it goes cold." Ethan looked at Fire. "How do you log out?"

"Pull up the menu," answered Fire. "It should be the last option, right below your name."

Ethan nodded and swiped his finger down, to bring up the menu. As he scrolled down to look for the Logout option, Fire turned to leave wanting to train.

"It's not here."

Fire turned back to look at him. "What do you mean?"

Ethan gave him a confused look. "It's just not here…"

"What are you talking about?" asked Fire, as he brought up his own menu. "It should be right…Oh."

"You have it too! What's going on?!" wailed Ethan.

"Calm down. I'll just contact one of the GMs…" muttered Fire, still baffled over this situation.

"I have a pizza coming!" Ethan whined, ignoring Fire. "Don't these people know-" And just like that Ethan Gold disappeared.

Fire blinked. "Ethan?" he cautiously prodded the spot where Ethan disappeared, to see if there was a teleport pad there. "What's going-" began Fire, just before he was engulfed by a bright light.

Xxx

When Fire opened his eyes, he found himself in a small field completely surrounded by trees. In the idle was a giant tree with a blue hexagonal shape on its front. Looking around he saw numerous players around him, with more appearing every second.

"Fire… Is that you?" a voice came from behind him.

Fire turned around to see a young boy standing behind. He had the same clothes that Ethan wore and even had the same exact cap.

"It's me," the boy spoke up. "Ethan."

Fire blinked. "Ethan? Why do you look younger?"

Ethan looked confused as he looked himself over. "This is how I look like in the real world…"

Fire was suddenly overcome with a sense of dread as he looked down at himself. He was wearing the clothes that he had on his avatar, but somehow Fire knew that this was his real body.

"How did this happen?" whispered Ethan as he stared at himself. "Is this is a bug…?"

"Look!" somebody suddenly shouted.

Fire turned back to the tree in the middle, to see that a cloaked person had appeared in front of it. He was obviously male from his height and proportions, but Fire was unable to see his face due to the shadow over it.

The figure spread out his arms. "Welcome," he rumbled, his voice magnified to reach everyone in the field. "to the center of my beautiful world, the Extralink."

Everyone went silent as they looked at him.

"As you may know," the figure continued. "the Logout icon isn't on your menu and all of you have somehow reverted to how you look like in the real world."Questions were bombarded at the hooded stranger. The person raised a hand to try and silence the players, but to no avail. "I assure you, that this is no mistake."

_That_ shut everybody up.

The man gestured towards the tree. A small projection emitted from the tree. A news report was on, with the same reporter who talked about Pokémon: Online on it. Behind her was a kid, with a VR Helmet 2.0, in a hospital bed. He was in some sort of emergency room.

Fire heard a strangled gasp and turned around. A young boy was staring at the screen in horror and was slowly backing away from it. Fire's eyes widened as he realized that the boy in front of him was the same one on the screen.

"Watch carefully now," the man advised. Fire forced himself to look away from the shaking boy and back to the screen.

"…_behind me, is one of the kids who is unable to return from the game. As you can see, the kids are absolutely healthy and just seem to be sleeping. But just like __**Y**__ said in his message, people playing the game are unable to wake up and will die if they lose what the game dubs "Pokémon Battles" inside. Only about 3000 people are confirmed to be in this condition, with numbers rising by the minute. Luckily, only a few deaths have been reported, but numbers are expected to rise soon. Meanwhile, Arisato Tela is nowhere to be found and… "_

Fire's blood ran cold.

_Die._

The projection fizzled for a second, before disappearing. For a moment nobody moved.

"What a load of crap!" somebody shouted. A burly man with yellow hair and a pair of goggles on his head, walked up to the hooded person. The man jabbed a finger at him. "He's just trying to scare us. This guy is just one of those hackers." He withdrew a Pokéball. "And I intend to prove it. I challenge you to a battle!"

"Fine." The hooded man slowly took out a Pokéball.

**Processing request…**

**Request being processed. Please wait a moment…**

**Request processed. Battle: Arnold Gai vs #$$^%! #$ %$& # **

**3…**

**2…**

**1…**

**Begin!**

"Go Bulbasaur!" Arnold threw out his Pokémon and out popped the Seed Pokémon.

The hooded man held out his Pokéball to Arnold. "You should thank me," he said. "I'm giving you a type advantage."

Arnold blinked. "Um, thanks?"

"Let's finish this, Greninja!" he said throwing out his Pokémon. The Ninja Pokémon appeared and stared down the Bulbasaur. Bulbasaur let out a gulp.

"Im-Impossible…" Arnold stammered. "How do you have a fully evolved starter, this early?"

"Greninja use Hydro Pump!" the hooded man commanded. Greninja opened its mouth and let out a torrent of water at Bulbasaur.

Bulbasaur's HP gauge went from full to empty in an instant as it collapsed on the ground.

Arnold sank to his knees. "Ho-How…"he muttered as he withdrew his fainted Bulbasaur.

The hooded man crossed his arms. "Now that you've lost a battle," he said. "you'll die."

Arnold's eyes widened. "What do you me-?" he managed to say just before he disintegrated in to pixels.

For a couple of seconds everyone stared at the spot where Arnold had disappeared. Then somebody screamed.

Fire watched as everyone immediately ran toward the exits and back to where they were before they got teleported to the Extralink. Several people surrounded the hooded man and attempted to tackle him to the ground, but were pushed back by some invisible barrier. Another hooded person, this time obviously female, appeared behind him along with a Gardevoir.

"Go." She mumbled.

The hooded man nodded and stared at the rampaging players. "Soon," his voice magnified to reach over the chaos. "You'll all realize what a beautiful world this is…" He then disappeared along with the girl and the Gardevoir.

Fire continued to stare at the spot where the man had vanished in horror.

Ethan tugged at his arm. "We've got to get out of here, Fire!" he shouted urgently.

Fire just ignored him and continued to stare at the tree with one thought running through his mind:

_My role model…no, my _hero_… has betrayed me and his world._

Xxx

"_Nice show you put out there."_

"Thanks, Akihiko."

"**Hey, Akihiko! You should thank Luna. This pretty girl saved our leader's hide, you know!"**

"_**I'm…pretty?"**_

"**Just look at you! I bet you'll have boys gawking at you. Of course if they do something to you, I'll just have to kill them.**"

"…_**I'm pretty."**_

"_Luna, don't listen to Merry. She never tells the truth."_

"_**I'm not…pretty?"**_

"**See what you did Akihiko! You hurt her self esteem!"**

"_No, I didn't! Rin! Back me up here!"_

"…Sorry, bro. You did kinda insult her…"

"_Even you!"_

"**Ha!"**

"Be Quiet!"

"…"

"…"

"…"

"…"

"Soon, we will have our perfect world. One where we will be able to live in peace."

* * *

**Fire Red**

**Charmander- Lv. 15**

**Nidoran(male)-Lv.13**

**Ethan Gold**

**Cyndaquil- **

**Xxx**

**And that's the end of the first chapter.**

**So how was it. Terrible, Horrible, or completely unreadable. Tell me in your reviews. Remember constructive criticism is appreciated, but please don't flame me.**

**The last part is just a discussion where the antagonists have a discussion. It's to show that this will differ from SAO and have its own set of antagonists. They will be revealed much later.**

**Also what do you think of the battle system. Since this legally is a video game, I thought it best to not to make the fights like how the anime does it, but more of how the game does. That means Stats, Moves, and Abilities will all have a role to play, and most of the fights will depend on how the Pokémon's base stats. I'm still deciding whether or not to put EVs and IVs. Tell me if I should.**

**Ciao**

* * *

**Next Chapter: Blasting Blastoise**


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